The invention relates to a distributing device for separating and orienting particles in a particle stream which is conducted to a particle measuring tool or device via the distributing device, wherein the distributing device comprises a conveying device with a discharge arranged at the end thereof.
A distributing device having the aforementioned features is described in DE 41 19 240 C2. To the extent that a dynamic particle measuring device is described therein, the particles, the dimensions of which are to be determined, are separated and conducted via, for example, a vibrating chute as a distributing device, and pass from the discharge disposed at its end, in free fall, between a light wave and an image-capturing device, whereby on the basis of the appropriately determined and evaluated data, the determination of the size distributions of the particles separated by the distributing device is effected.
The particles must be guided at a suitable distance past the image-capturing devices in free fall. Furthermore, in the case of elongated particles, the greatest particle dimension (the “length” of the particle) is relevant, so that an alignment of the particles prior to passing the image-capturing device is called for. Neither requirement can be fulfilled with the vibration chute as a distributing device known from DE 41 19 240 C2 without a specially configured discharge.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to embody a distributing device for the particles of a particle stream that pass a downstream image-capturing device in free fall in such a way that a directed supply of the separated particles into the region disposed between the image-capturing device and the light source is provided.